Story Ideas in Fairfax County Government

Story Ideas in Fairfax County Government

The Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs provides a summary of news
briefs designed to inform the media about great story ideas in Fairfax
County government. The following information gives the background on
newsworthy stories as well as contact information. For additional
questions on the Future Features service, contact the Office of Public
Affairs at 703-324-3187, TTY 703-324-2935.

Youth Talk Trash -- In a Good Way
A sweet deal

Clean Your Files Week, Jan. 19 - 23, 2004, was celebrated in Fairfax
County to encourage schools, civic groups and county employees to improve
the environment by cleaning out and recycling the contents of file
cabinets and closets. The Department of Public Works and Environmental
Services Solid Waste Management Program sponsored a "sweet"
contest. The groups/organizations that initiated and followed through
with the most creative recycling or reuse efforts were rewarded with
coupons for free ice cream cones.

Camelot Elementary School, Annandale, won in the elementary school
division for collecting athletic shoes for the Reuse-a-Shoe program
sponsored by Nike. The recycled athletic shoes will be used to make
basketball courts and soccer fields.

South Lakes High School Environmental Club, Reston, captured the high
school division title for collecting 25 pounds - and that's a lot - of
aluminum cans that were donated to the Aluminum Cans for Burned Children
program which provides services to child burn victims.

Brownie Troop 2864, Chantilly, won the scout division of the contest for
Movie Medicine, a program established for the purpose of recycling movie
videos to be given to the children's wards of area hospitals. To date,
more than 800 videos have been collected and distributed.

For more information, call Meredith Eisenberg in the Department of
Public Works and Environmental Services at 703-324-5313, TTY
703-324-3949.

The Department of Finance has created a system enabling current and
former citizens of Fairfax County to log on to the Internet to see if the
county is holding unclaimed funds in their names. These funds may be for
such things as overpayments of taxes or other fees. The Department of
Finance makes a diligent effort to locate citizens who are owed refunds,
but they are not always successful, hence the need for this Web site.
"Anyone can log on to this Web site at any time of the day or night
and determine whether the county is holding funds in their name,"
according to Accounting Operations Chief Shakeel Yusuf. The Web site is
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/gov/finance/unclaimedmoney/.
The Department of Finance won a National Association of Counties
Achievement Award in 2003 for this initiative.

In addition to continually working to improve systems and develop
initiatives for county residents, the Department of Finance (and other
agencies reporting to Chief Financial Officer Edward L. Long Jr.)
participates in a partnership with Willow Springs Elementary School,
Fairfax, to mentor and tutor students during the school year.

For more information, call Shakeel Yusuf in the Department of Finance at
703-324-5071, TTY 711.

In Addition:

Feb. 22 - 28 is National Engineers Week in Fairfax County. For more
information, call Howard Guba in the Department of Public Works and
Environmental Services at 703-324-5033, TTY 711.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Fairfax County School
Board will jointly issue a proclamation to designate March as
Purchasing Month in Fairfax County at the regularly scheduled meeting
of the Board of Supervisors beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 23.
For more information, call Bill Miller in the Office of Public Affairs
at 703-324-3187, TTY 703-324-2935.

Photos of the presentations to citizens and staff, proclamations
issued, and resolutions adopted by the Fairfax County Board of
Supervisors are posted on the new Office of Public Affairs Web page on
the Fairfax County Web site at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/opa. Click on Board
Presentations, and presto, youâ€™re in the know. For more information,
call Bill Miller in the Office of Public Affairs at 703-324-3187, TTY
703-324-2935.

FAIRFAX COUNTY IS COMMITTED TO A POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION IN ALL
COUNTY PROGRAMS, SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES AND WILL PROVIDE REASONABLE
ACCOMMODATIONS UPON REQUEST. TO REQUEST SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS, CALL
703-324-3187, TTY 703-324-2935. PLEASE ALLOW FIVE WORKING DAYS IN ADVANCE
OF EVENTS IN ORDER TO MAKE THE NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS.